Pablo Zabaleta stays calm but predicts West Ham relegation battle will go to the wire

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He may not have been involved in many of them but West Ham United star Pablo Zabaleta is confident of winning the relegation battle.

West Ham are in the bottom three with 13 games to go.

Six of those matches are against the current top 10. And of the 13, seven are away from home.

It is fair to say that with Manchester City and Liverpool up next – both away – West Ham have it all to do to survive.

Many pundits and fans already have West Ham down.

Odds stacked against West Ham

It is easy to see their rationale. West Ham have only won six games all season. And if the next two games are true to form, the Hammers will need to win nearly half their remaining games to stay up.

Relegation form to Champions League form seems unlikely.

But stranger things have happened.

It will be a nervy few months for all involved. Hammers veteran Zabaleta is not letting it get to him, though.

Zabaleta, 35, will leave English football at the end of the season.

‘Nobody panic’ Zaba stays calm

And although he predicts West Ham’s battle for survival will go down to the wire, he is refusing to panic (whufc.com).

“We all know the situation we are in at the minute and we’ve got two tough games coming up now away from home,” Zabaleta told whufc.com.

“But we need to play with the mentality of trying to get something from those games, and then the key will be our home games.

‘Take things game by game’

“Ultimately, though, the table does not matter until the final day of the season, and I think the best thing for the team is to take things game-by-game.”

A point from a trip to Zabaleta’s old Etihad stomping ground would be a huge boost.

Not only would it lift West Ham out of the relegation zone, but it would give David Moyes and his players belief they can dig themselves out of a hole.

West Ham’s relegation run-in:

Man City (A)

Liverpool (A)

Southampton (H)

Arsenal (A)

Wolves (H)

Tottenham (A)

Chelsea (H)

Newcastle (A)

Burnley (H)

Norwich (A)

Watford (H)

Man United (A)

Aston Villa (H)